On-Site Neutralization of Civil War Munitions Recovered From an Underwater Environment

Abstract

AbstractThis paper describes the recovery, on-site nondestructive mechanical breaching, and chemical neutralization of munitions recovered from an underwater environment. The munitions were recovered during salvaging of the scuttled confederate states ship (CSS) Georgia, as part of the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP). The CSS Georgia was scuttled on December 20, 1864. The CSS Georgia wreck site is on the Georgia and South Carolina border and covers an approximate area of 350 × 200 feet at a depth of about 36 feet. Because the CSS Georgia shipwreck site would obstruct the SHEP, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) entered into agreements to salvage some artifacts, including the munitions, for conservation. Due to the historical significance of the artifacts and the munitions among the CSS Georgia wreckage, the USACE required that the munitions be neutralized in the safest and least destructive manner possible. The munitions on board the scuttled CSS Georgia consisted of two types of civil war era projectiles, often described as cannon balls. A total of 185 munitions were removed from the CSS Georgia site in 2015. The majority of the recovered projectiles (170) were mechanically breached, and energetics were safely neutralized using MuniRem, an innovative chemical reduction reagent for explosives. After the black powder was completely flushed and neutralized, fuzes were unscrewed, if it could be done safely; otherwise, the explosive ordnance disposal technicians drilled into the fuzes at an angle. The contents of the fuze were neutralized in a solution of MuniRem before reattachment to the projectile. The neutralized black powder solids and wastewater were disposed as nonhazardous wastes. This project constitutes the largest on-site chemical neutralization of recovered confederate and underwater disposed military munitions from the U.S. civil war era.